Leif Ericson Statue

Leif Ericson ( /ˈleɪf/ layf or /ˈliːf/ leef; Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson; Norwegian: Leiv Eiriksson c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse explorer who is regarded as the first European to land in North America (excluding Greenland), nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which has been tentatively identified with the L'Anse aux Meadows Norse site on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.